In a big relief for people who still haven't linked their Aadhaar number with services such as bank accounts, insurance policies, PAN, mutual funds, PPF, etc., the Modi government on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it was willing to extend the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar for availing of various 131 services and welfare schemes to March 31 next year. Centre had earlier set December 31 as the last date to link Aadhaar, except the Aadhaar-Mobile SIM linking, which is February 6 next year.

The Supreme Court will be setting up a five-judge Constitution Bench next week to hear pleas on making Aadhaar card mandatory for various social and welfare schemes. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was informed by Attorney General K K Venugopal that the Centre was willing to extend the deadline of December 31 to March 31 next year.

However, Venugopal said that February 6 next year would remain the deadline for linking Aadhaar for availing of uninterrupted mobile services as it had been mandated by the apex court. Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for those who are opposed to the Aadhaar scheme told the bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, that the Centre should give an undertaking that no coercive steps would be taken against those who fail to link their Aadhaar with various services.

Even as the Supreme Court considers setting up a Constitution Bench next week, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has clarified that the deadlines for verifying bank accounts, PAN cards and mobile SIM cards with the biometric ID stand 'valid and lawful', and there is no change in them. There is no stay from the Supreme Court on Aadhaar and its linking to various services, it said.

UIDAI asked people not to get misled by an outdated video doing rounds in the social media and Whatsapp and said "people should instead verify their banks accounts, investment accounts, SIM cards, etc as per the current laws and deadlines as early as possible to avoid any inconvenience."

"UIDAI has clarified on a video circulated purportedly out of context of a lady lawyer on WhatsApp, Twitter and Social Media and said that the video refers to an order passed by the Supreme Court on August 11, 2015 when the court had restricted use of Aadhaar to only few programs," the statement said.

The apex court on October 30 had said that a Constitution Bench would begin hearing on petitions against Aadhaar linking from the last week of November. Recently, a nine-judge constitution bench of the apex court had held that Right to Privacy was a Fundamental Right under the Constitution. Several petitioners challenging the validity of Aadhaar had claimed it violated privacy rights.

On October 25, the government had told the apex court that the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to receive benefits of government schemes has been extended till March 31, 2018 for those who do not have the 12-digit unique biometric identification number and were willing to enrol for it.

The Attorney General had told the court that no coercive action would be taken against those who do not have the Aadhaar card but are willing to enrol for. He had said such people would not be denied the benefits of social welfare schemes till March 31.

Some petitioners in the top court have termed the linking of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) number with bank accounts and mobile numbers as "illegal and unconstitutional".

They had also objected to the CBSE's alleged move to make Aadhaar card mandatory for students appearing for examinations, a contention denied by the Centre.

One of the counsels representing the petitioners had earlier said final hearing in the main Aadhaar matter, which is pending before the apex court, was necessary as the government "cannot compel" citizens to link their Aadhaar with either bank accounts or cell-phone numbers.

Lately, Aadhaar has been made necessary for a host of financial services like PPF, NSC, KVP, LIC apart from bank accounts, mobile numbers and to avail numerous social security schemes like pension, scholarship and LPG connection. However, before you begin linking your Aadhaar, check the deadlines for various services.

With the IRDA making it mandatory to link Aadhaar with LIC insurance policy, you should know how to do it and what could happen if you fail to update the details.

LIC insurance policy

Keep Aadhaar, PAN cards and the policy numbers with you. Your mobile number should be registered with LIC. If it's not, call up your LIC branch.

Log on to the official website of the LIC (licindia.in). You will see a link for connecting Aadhaar and PAN with the LIC number on the home page.

Click on the given link, read all the instructions carefully, and enter the details, including name, date of birth, email, PAN, Aadhaar and mobile number, you have registered with UIDAI. You will receive an OTP number on your mobile phone, put it on the website.

Read the instructions and click on the 'Proceed' button and submit the details. After completion of the process, you will receive an SMS, though the verification may take a few days.

PPF, NSC, KVP

Current Deadline: Dec 31, 2017If you have been banking on your post office deposits like PPF, make sure you link your 12-digit Aadhaar with it soon. Even other investments like NSC and KVP require Aadhaar verification. "Existing depositors who have not provided Aadhaar number at the time of application for such deposit "shall submit his Aadhaar number to the post office savings bank or deposit office concerned, on or before December 31, 2017," said government notification. In case Aadhaar is not generated, one need to provide the proof of application for enrolment into Aadhaar.

PAN

Current Deadline: Dec 31, 2017Linking Aadhaar-PAN is mandatory for processing of income tax returns (ITRs) for assessment year 2017-18. While earlier the deadline was August 31, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extended the last date to December 31, 2017 for easy compliance by taxpayers. You can link the PAN to Aadhaar by login to the income tax filing website by entering PAN (User ID), password and your date of birth. Now click on 'Profile Settings' tab and select the last option 'Link Aadhaar'. You are required to enter details like name, date of birth and gender as per PAN records and also your Aadhaar number. Enter the captcha code and submit.

Mobile SIM

Current Deadline: February 6, 2018If you have obtained your phone SIM card a year or a two back, it is unlikely to have been Aadhaar-verified. You can link your Aadhaar with your SIM card by walking into the retail outlet of your telecom operator along with Aadhaar document and link the two by February next year. Failure to do so may see your SIM card getting deactivated by the operator. Here's how you can link it.

Go to your telecom operator shop with Aadhaar Card

Ask them to link Aadhaar number with mobile number by filling up a re-verification form.

The operator will send a verification code on the number which you're going to verify.

Provide the verification code to the operator

Also, give your bio-metric expressions

You'll receive a confirmation message, simply type Y and send it to them

In next 24 hours the verification process will be completed

Bank account/Mutual FundsCurrent Deadline: Dec 31, 2017If your bank account is not linked with Aadhaar, you can link Aadhaar with your bank account in various ways. To link it through net banking, you have to follow the following process;

Click on the link that says "Aadhaar Seeding Option"

Enter your Adhaar number. You will get a screen with a transaction number and the number of days required to complete it. When it is done, you get an alert from your bank saying it is complete.

You can also link Aadhaar throug SMS by sending UID (Space) Aadhaar number (Space) to the bank via SMS. When it gets linked, you will get an SMS alert about it.

Another way is to visit branch. Give a photocopy of your Aadhaar card to the bank representative. After necessary verification, the account will be linked and customer would be informed via SMS.